Cavs, Stuck In Twilight Zone, Now Teeter On Edge Of The Abyss

May 04, 1989|By Skip Myslenski.

Always, it seems, a classic television series is being rediscovered, with lost episodes being pulled from a vault for public viewing. In this spirit, the Cleveland Cavaliers performed Wednesday at the Stadium, and rather than play basketball, they presented a lost episode of ``The Twilight Zone.``

That was certainly where they resided during the first quarter of their playoff game with the Bulls. The period ended with the Cavs trailing by 15 after shooting 33 percent from the field. And the twilight zone was even more certainly where they wandered during much of the second quarter, which found them trailing by as much as 22 before they rallied to cut that margin in half by halftime.

``I don`t know, I don`t know,`` Cavs guard Mark Price said when asked to explain his team`s other-worldly performance. That was only appropriate, for as all denizens of the supranatural recall, there was no explaining the twilight zone, either.

Just as there was no explaining the Cavs` going 1 for 8 with 6 turnovers in the first 7 minutes 15 seconds of the second period. Nor was there a reasonable way to explain how they were outrebounded 37-21 during the first half.

``But the worst thing we did tonight was try to come back too quick and rush our shots,`` Cavs forward John Williams said. ``Still, we`ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Anytime you dig a hole for yourself, you`re in trouble no matter who you`re playing.

``We`re a young team, and the games we`ve lost this year, we`ve done that a lot. You wear yourself out getting back (in the game), and then you`re tired at the end.``

``Anytime you have to surmount that many points, naturally you get tired,`` his coach, Lenny Wilkens, agreed. ``That happens from time to time, but tonight we just couldn`t get over the hump.

``When you get that far behind, it`s paramount to make every shot. We were trying hard, but still we missed shots, we missed free throws, we made crucial turnovers. The first quarter was not a good quarter; they made everything, we missed everything. But to say we lost it in the first quarter, no, we lost it at the end. We gave ourselves a chance at the end.``

More specifically, Williams gave them a chance by coming off the bench for 22 points and 11 boards. He collected the Cavs` first three baskets of the fourth quarter, which they entered trailing by 10. Then, with 2:45 left in the game, Williams closed the margin to three with a layup.

He would, in the end, total 16 of his team`s 25 fourth-quarter points, but he operated virtually alone and never could get it closer than three. When the Cavaliers had a chance to cut it to one, Brad Daugherty had his shot blocked by Horace Grant. Seconds later, Daugherty shanked a pair of foul shots as well.

Ron Harper, the Cavs` pyrotechnic guard, emerged only rarely from the fog that surrounded him. Price, their catalyst, was hampered by the strained groin that has bothered him now for two weeks. He was 1 of 12 from the field, and later, with his leg wrapped in ice, he was in obvious pain from it and the prospect of elimination Friday.

``It was worse tonight than on Sunday,`` he said of the leg. ``It wouldn`t get loose for me, and I couldn`t do anything quick tonight. I couldn`t come off a screen. I couldn`t get my feet set for my shot. I couldn`t move; my man beat me down the floor every time. It was frustrating.``

Then, through tight lips, he turned to the future and concluded: ``No one in here`s in shock. We always said that anytime a team has a player like Michael Jordan, it`s a threat.

``They came into our place, and snuck out with one. Now, it`s down to one game for us. For us, Friday night is it.``